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What are U reading these days? (PART NINE (2013) (ongoing thread for 2013)
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Werner
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Mar 08, 2013 08:07AM
Jackie and I are into our buddy read of Skinwalker, which I think we've mentioned before on this thread as impending. Since I started later (the book didn't arrive on interlibrary loan as quickly as I'd expected it to :-( ), I'm well behind her, but hoping to catch up. It reads slowly, though; Hunter is such a good writer that I find myself taking my time to savor her prose and visualize details!
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I'm taking my time too. I'm thoroughly enjoying everything about this novel and there are places where I read it over again. This is Urban Fantasy I can get with. There's a lot of cool things happening here.
Werner wrote: "Jackie and I are into our buddy read of Skinwalker ... Hunter is such a good writer that I find myself taking my time to savor her prose and visualize details!"For reference: Skinwalker by Faith Hunter
FROM GR DESCRIPTION:
"Faith [Hunter] writes full-time, works full-time in a hospital, tries to keep house, and is a workaholic. She gave up cooking for lent one year and the oven hasn’t been turned on since. Okay – that’s a joke. ..."
I enjoyed that bit of info. She must LOVE writing!
About the book: "Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind-a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living." [FROM the GR description]
I read a short story of Jane Yellowrock in Strange Brew, an anthology of UF/PNR stories. I wasn't wowed by it. Maybe I'm burned out on the genre.
I don't think short stories can give enough to wow us in this genre. I liked the Iron Druid short story but if I read it before Hounded, I would never have given Hounded a chance, no matter what anyone said. The short story was good only because I already knew Atticus. I can send you Skinwalker, Jim, if you're interested. You've read a lot of UF and I don't know your taste in this genre but I have to say it's very interesting to me, better than average. 4 stars at the moment.
If you don't want it when you're done, sure, send it along. Thank you!I wouldn't have given the Iron Druid series a 2d thought without reading & liking the short story first, though. So, just the opposite for me.
I'm not really a fan of short stories, since I love epic fantasy, it makes sense that I'm looking for more. But you like the short stories and it's a great way for you to get a taste and see if you like it.OK on Skinwalker. It was given to me by a friend in Utah, so I'm gonna make sure it makes the rounds, lol
Thanks! Thinking about swapping paperbacks around, there's a new fight going on about swapping ebooks.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/tec...
Maybe we'll finally see what an electronic file is: a purchased property or a transient rental? Considering that both Apple & Amazon have pulled or disallowed their customers from using properly purchased content, I don't have any sympathy for them in this mess & believe books, no matter the format are property. Thus, I will not buy a digital file with DRM on it. If I'm buying it, I own it. That means I can keep it as long as I like & play it on any device that plays that type of media.
OTOH, authors are getting the short end of the stick. Publishers & authors need to provide a product at a price that makes pirating unattractive, but earns them both a living. iTunes did that with the $1 song. Publishers are doing no one a favor with their current, stupid business model. Unfortunately, they're sticking to it & authors are getting squeezed badly.
At the prices they charge for a new ebook, I would want to own it. When A Dance With Dragons came out, I checked and it was about $16 for a kindle version. At $16, I own that book! It's the same as what I paid for the hardcover. I'm really getting sick of this greedy mentality. $16 to basically rent a book? I can go to the library and rent it for free. Physical books have always been passed from person to person, and it hasn't been a problem. Why is it a problem now? Greed, that's the answer.
iTunes is another one that's greedy. Whether the song is a $1 or more, if I paid for it, I own it. But now the issue has come up that when a person dies, can he/she bequeath his/her iTunes. The answer is no. That's just not right. If they keep this up, they'll kill the electronic industry in favor of physical CDs, DVDs and books. If the price is basically the same, I want the one that I can decide what I want to do with it, share, give away, throw in the garbage. If I paid for it, I own it and I'll do what I want with it.
I hadn't heard the final ruling in the iTunes case was against transferring them. Folks will pirate what they want then. All these laws are just window dressing. The fact is that unless they keep the price down to a point where it's easier to buy than steal, a lot of folks will steal. Happens all the time with cigarettes & other real world items, too. Why does a black market spring up? Because people want it. All the law does is give them an excuse to pay a cop at our expense rather than tax it to our benefit. Dumb. At least it looks like they're going to legalize hemp growing again in KY & it's a short step to pot from there. Hemp used to be a big industry in KY until they outlawed it because of pot. So farmers did more tobacco. Now that's fading, so it's back to hemp & probably a lot of pot in the smaller fields or mixed into the big ones.
Jim wrote: "... At least it looks like they're going to legalize hemp growing again in KY & it's a short step to pot from there. Hemp used to be a big industry in KY until they outlawed it because of pot. So farmers did more tobacco. Now that's fading, so it's back to hemp & probably a lot of pot in the smaller fields or mixed into the big ones.Jim, is hemp a drug? OK, I'll go look it up! :)
At Wiki, I found:
==================================================
Hemp is a commonly used term for varieties of the Cannabis plant and its products, which include fiber, oil, and seed. In many countries regulatory limits for concentrations of psychoactive drug compounds (THC) in hemp encourages the use of strains of the plant which are bred for low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content or otherwise have the THC removed. Hemp is refined into products like hemp seed foods, hemp oil, wax, resin, rope, cloth, pulp, and fuel."
FROM:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp
===============================================
Live and learn! :)
From what I've read (I don't recall the exact sources), marijuana and hemp are members of the same family, but the latter doesn't have the hallucinogenic properties. It has, as the wiki cited above notes, a lot of legitimate uses; and it was fairly widely grown in the U.S. in the 18th and 19th centuries (George Washington raised it, with other crops, on his plantation).The problem with hemp growing, from the standpoint of law enforcement, is that it's practically visually indistinguishable from its hallucinogenic cousin, although chemical analysis can quickly differentiate them. The potential for drug raisers and traffickers to pass off marijuana as hemp, or use hemp to camouflage marijuana mixed in with it, as Jim indicated, is fairly obvious; and cops and DEA agents don't want the inconvenience of not being able to spot illegal marijuana by eyesight. I can understand both their argument AND the argument of would-be law-abiding hemp growers who don't see why they should be kept from growing a harmless and useful product just because other people could potentially break the law.
Werner wrote: "From what I've read (I don't recall the exact sources), marijuana and hemp are members of the same family, but the latter doesn't have the hallucinogenic properties. It has, as the wiki cited abov..."Thanks for that additional info, Werner. I wasn't aware of any of this.
I went to a live performance of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" last night at our local Wood Theater. It's heavy stuff. The performers were excellent!(Link: All My Sons )
I also downloaded the film* (via a rental) starring David Suchet. I'll finish watching it today:
http://www.digitaltheatre.com/product...
** It's a film of the actual play, captured at the Apollo Theatre, London in December 2010.
I wish I could get the version with Burt Lancaster!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040087/?...
Jackie wrote: "At the prices they charge for a new ebook, I would want to own it. When A Dance With Dragons came out, I checked and it was about $16 for a kindle version. At $16, I own that book! It's the same a..."Jackie, One big advantage of the Kindle e-books is when you are out of town and you don't want to carry several books with you, the Kindle holds almost as many as you could ever read. I have found that to be a blessing.
I agree, Nina, that's when it would come in handy. But I never go anywhere, at least not where I'd have to pack a few books, even though that wouldn't bother me. A friend of mine keeps trying to give me her Kindle Fire, I don't want it. I love physical books too much to part with them. The way the pages feel, the way a books smells, that can't be reproduced. I probably sound nutty, lol
No, Jackie, you don't sound nutty! I'm with you 100% on that.
I understand that also but want to point out that just because I have a kindle doesn't mean I never read hardbacks and paperbacks. I haven't decided to use a Kindle exclusively. I compare it to using a Microwave. Just because I use a Micro for certain things doesn't mean i never heat anything on the stove or in the oven. Does this make sense to you all?
Yes, Nina, that does make sense; and I can see how that would be a very legitimate approach for many people. I'm not in favor of outlawing e-readers. :-) I just don't use them much myself for book-length reading, and then not as a substitute for the physical book. But I think e-publication for single short stories actually is a really good idea, with a lot of potential.
I haven't gotten a Kindle-type device yet. I keep thinking about it but haven't done anything about it. I can see how it would be useful but I hate paying for books which I can get free at the library. Besides I do like the feel of an actual book in my hand and the freedom from tech stuff while you're reading.However, every once in a while, I read a book or portions of a book online and I can see how that method of reading could work for me.
Good points Nina. I think I would be like you, in using both. But 95% of my friends with Kindle now use Kindle exclusively, even though they have physical books on their shelves. That's what I'm afraid of, that I'll join their ranks.
Joy, I do still use the library as it's only three blocks or four if I cross at the light, but when the weather is bad it is such a convenience to have a book instantly for me to read. That is when I use my Kindle. Especially nice during our 20 inch snowfall. Also, I belong to a book club and when our book of the month is not avaiable at the library I buy the Kindle rather than getting in the car and driving to Barnes and Noble to get the paperback. One more small advantage you can get a sample free on the kindle and at times I use that facility and often if I like the book, go get it at the library. For me, this works well.
Yes, Nina, I do see those all those advantages in using Kindle. No doubt about it, the bad weather certainly keeps me in the house. It's a huge deterrent to going anywhere. At times it might be worth the extra money to buy a kindle-book instead of making trips to the library to pick up and return books, especially when you think about the cost of gas for the car.These days I tend to prioritize my spending. I keep juggling the luxury items in my budget. The following are items I might consider luxuries:
---A kindle-type book
---Netflix or any other movie rental
---Eating out
---Red Hat events
---Wood Theater events (my usual live entertainment)
---Certain items which offer convenience (e.g., time-savers)(can't think of any right now but I know they exist!) LOL
Sometimes I give up one in order to have the other.
PS-I forgot to mention another luxury of mine: knick-knacks! LOL
Oh, and audio-books which I might buy online.
PS-I forgot to mention another luxury of mine: knick-knacks! LOLOh, and audio-books which I might buy online.
Jackie wrote: "I finished Skinwalker which I enjoyed. I'll be starting Hexed tonight."Jackie, mighta known it has a Celtic angle! LOL
I guess that Atticus O’Sullivan is the "Iron Druid". No?:)
WIKI PAGE on "The Iron Druid Chronicles": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron...
DEFINITION OF DRUID (per WordWeb): pre-Christian priest among the Celts of ancient Gaul and Britain and Ireland
Is Atticus a priest?
I wouldn't call him a priest but he is an ancient Druid. Druids weren't priests in the traditional sense that we know today, they were wisemen, judges, healers. It's a fun series.
Speaking of books, a friend of mine called from MI last night to tell me about a book she is reading that she really liked,"The Storyteller," by Jodi Picoult. And this morning it got a good review in our paper. Have you read or heard of it?
Jackie wrote: "I wouldn't call him a priest but he is an ancient Druid. Druids weren't priests in the traditional sense that we know today, they were wisemen, judges, healers. ... ""Druids" is a term I'm not very familiar with although, of course, I have heard it before.
Another definition I found: a member of a pre-Christian religious order among the ancient Celts of Gaul, Britain, and Ireland.
Origin: from Latin druides , of Gaulish origin; compare Old Irish druid wizards]
FROM: http://dictionary.reference.com/brows...
So, can Atticus be called a "wizard"?
No, wizard is just plain wrong. Unless it's made up for fantasy purposes. Atticus has some skills but I wouldn't call him a wizard in the one book I read with him, Hounded. Once I start reading Hexed, I'll probably be in a better position to define him. I hadn't put much thought into it while reading Hounded and it's been a few months since I read it, and you know my memory, or should I say lack of! lol
Nina wrote: "Speaking of books, a friend of mine called from MI last night to tell me about a book she is reading that she really liked,"The Storyteller," by Jodi Picoult. And this morning it got a good review ..."Here are the GR links: The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
The GR description says: "Can someone who's committed a truly heinous act ever atone for it with subsequent good behavior?"
That's a coincidence because that same question could be asked when referring to the play I saw yesterday: All My Sons by Arthur Miller. A businessman sells faulty airplane engine parts during WWII and 21 servicemen die because of his greed. Now he has to face up to it. Heavy stuff.
I haven't read the Picoult book, Nina. She tackles heavy subjects. I think I'll put that book on my to-read shelf. Thanks, Nina.
Jackie, my memory isn't any good either. :) I'm so glad I have my GR book reviews to look back at. They help to refresh my memory about things I've nearly forgotten.
Have any of you ever looked at your book stats? I don't do it often, but I did this morning. They're here:http://www.goodreads.com/review/stats...
One of the things I find most interesting is the ability to see my overall star ratings of books. I sometimes feel I'm too negative, but a look at this page shows that I'm actually rating most books pretty high. I think that's where my ratings should be since friends here influence my choices & you all have wonderful taste (like me) of course or you wouldn't be my friends.
;-)
The pie chart that shows where books fall on my shelves is interesting, too. If you click 'Details' for each year, the comparison is interesting. It's interesting to see how big the audio book shelf is & that there's always a large slice that is 'other'.
I don't pay much attention to the number of books & none to pages which are always wrong. While it looks like I'm on a tear right now, I've been able to publicly review almost everything I've read this year & some are probably short stories. Also, it's still winter. My reading time drops considerably from here on as there is more to do outside.
Jim wrote: "Have any of you ever looked at your book stats? ... They're here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/stats... ..."WOW, Jim. I don't remember having looked at my book stats before! Very interesting! I see that I read the most books in 2009, according to the chart. Of course, there are a lot of books which I've never put on my GR shelves simply because I read them before I joined GR and I haven't bothered to enter them. I'm slowly catching up but it's too time-consuming.
Another reason that they aren't on the stat chart is that I failed to enter the reading date for the books I read before I joined GR.
I do have a written record of most of the books I've read because I copy quotes from most of them, especially if they have any interesting quotes. I'm currently in the process of arranging my note pages alphabetically, according to author.
I like that pie chart because it uses my own categories (some of them), i.e., the shelves I created myself. Actually, the pie chart can't be accurate because there are overlapping shelves, i.e., some books are in more than one category (on more than one shelf). (OR AM I CONFUSING MYSELF.) :)
My book stats aren't great for the first few years here on GR either. While I joined in 2007, it was at the end of the year & then I didn't always track my books properly for a while after that.I do occasionally add old books I've read, but rarely put dates on them either. I can't remember. I try occasionally, but I have a horrible time sense at the best of times. I'm always saying something happened 'the other day' & Marg will tell me it was a decade or two ago. (It bugs her.) Well, it wasn't yesterday. Close enough!
;-)
I think you're confusing yourself on the pie chart, but I guess it depends on how you shelve books & what you expect or compare the slices to. Exclusive shelves like 'read' or 'could-not-finish' are easy. Others can vary.
I compare audio books, nonfiction, or short stories to all the rest. I don't have a shelf for real or ebooks. Other shelves can be mixed & usually are. Mysteries can also be SF, fantasy, action, short stories, &/or animal related so I'm mildly curious to see if I'm reading more or less on a particular shelf. I'm horrible at the fine distinctions of genre, anyway.
I've been at My Stats but never checked 'Details'. I've done the same, Jim, with the dates; it's a triumph just to remember the title, the date is just too much to hope for. And my sense of time passing, 'the other day' could be weeks, months ago. 'A few months ago' could be years. lol Years, well, don't even hope I'd have a clue which one!
We all shelve differently. Sometimes I enjoy reading some of the odd shelves people have. :)
These days, I try to put a date on everything I do. It's a good habit.One of my pet peeves is people who mark letters and notes with the month and day but leave out the YEAR! When I find an old note or letter lying around, I want to know what YEAR it's from! LOL
Speaking of dating by the year; I have kept several garden diaries over the past fifteen years and I am so glad I always gave the year. Sometimes the years changed in the same book but it would have been almost meaningless if I hadn't put in the year. I mostly put in the day and month too. But, the year was most important.
I've tried to keep notes & never been too good at it. I start & mean to, then forget for ages. I've been doing a little better lately on major things like the first & last frosts, when the Purple Martins come & go, but find even that to be a chore.
Nina wrote: "Speaking of dating by the year; I have kept several garden diaries over the past fifteen years and I am so glad I always gave the year. Sometimes the years changed in the same book but it would hav..."Nina, what info does the year signify in your garden diary?
Jim wrote: "I've tried to keep notes & never been too good at it. I start & mean to, then forget for ages. I've been doing a little better lately on major things like the first & last frosts, when the Purple ..."I have little notes and jottings all over the place! It's like a disease! LOL
Shopping lists are a problem. Eventually they get so muddled after crossing stuff off, that they're useless. I've tried using new sheets each time on tiny post-its but after awhile I'm drowning in post-its. Confusion reigns.
PS-I used to jot an spring-arrival-date in the bird book next to the pic of the particular bird. But my attention is now on other things... like this group and FunTrivia! I'm swamped with things to do... and they're things which I enjoy. What's the expression... a surfeit of good things... no that's not it. It's on the tip of my tongue!
Our grocery shopping list is easy. That's on one pad on the fridge. Put it on the list for The Boss or I don't get it. Unless I put the empty container next to it, then Marg can write whatever cryptic notes she needs to figure out what to get.Farm supply & shop lists are easy because I keep a notebook in my pocket for them. The front of the notebook has make, model, & part numbers for most things, so if I write down that I need a spark plug for the little weedeater or oil filter for the big tractor, I can just look in the front of the book for that info.
Book shopping lists are more of a problem. I don't like using my to-buy shelf here because the kids have surprised me by buying some of them for me. Either I have them already or don't want them & I keep most of them on PaperBackSwap or BookMooch. Of course, data in more than one place is always wrong.
Jim wrote: "Our grocery shopping list is easy. That's on one pad on the fridge. Put it on the list for The Boss or I don't get it. Unless I put the empty container next to it, then Marg can write whatever c..."Thank goodness Eddie takes care of the grocery shopping list because he does the grocery shopping. He does a good job! Like you, if I don't put it on the list, he doesn't buy it. Like you, our list is on the fridge. :)
I just finished Down Among the Dead Men: A Year in the Life of a Mortuary Technician, a present from Kelly. It was pretty good & I'm glad I got to read it. If you liked Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach or Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales by William M. Bass, you'll probably like this. It's not as good (I think I rated both the others with 5 stars, this with 3.) but is another point of view. Not as authoritative, but a bit more every-man, if that makes sense.My review is here:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/...
Jim, the subject of cadavers is a bit daunting!I'm sure it's interesting if one has the stomach for it.
About bedsores, when my elderly MIL was in a nursing home, I asked the nurse about the reason for bedsores. She said that one of the reasons is that old people have poor circulation. But I just now found a page which thoroughly explains what causes bedsores and why they are so hard to prevent and so hard to cure:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/artic...
You'll love it, Jackie. If you want 'Down Among the Dead Men', I can send it to you. It's interesting, but just a read once.Joy, I know bedsores aren't always avoidable, but she made a real point of how horrible this home was & it wasn't the first time they'd seen bad stuff from there, but they didn't seem to do anything about it.
OK, Jim, but I don't know when I'll get to it though. TY
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Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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